Sanctions on Russia-Belarus will Combine Crypto

The European Commission clarified that crypto assets would be subject to additional sanctions; Which aims to respond to the military conflict in Ukraine against Russia-Belarus. The European Commission said in a statement on Wednesday that member states agreed to amend the regulations to ensure even more effectively that Russian sanctions cannot be circumvented, including through Belarus. According to the commission, crypto-assets treat as “transferable securities”. Also, loans and credits issued in cryptocurrency will not allow within the limits of restrictive financial measures.

The extension of the sanctions came after the commission announced in February that it would remove several Russian banks from the SWIFT cross-border payment network. However, it is not clear how cryptocurrency will be at that time. The European Parliament’s Committee on Economy and Monetary Affairs is also preparing for the March 14; vote on the cryptocurrency regulatory base in the EU.

Crypto and Sanctions

The US and the EU indicated they consider Russia potentially using digital currency to circumvent sanctions. Some called it an economic war. On Wednesday, Joe Biden signed an executive order; it requires government agencies to coordinate and consolidate policies on a national cryptocurrency framework; Investigate the potential launch of the central bank’s digital currency. The first stage of the order mentions the risks of circumventing the three sanctions.

In addition to legislators’ actions, private businesses from fast-food chains from McDonald’s to significant credit card companies, including Visa and Mastercard, have said they will cut back on operations in Russia and Belarus or suspend operations altogether in response to the situation with Ukraine. Binance also said it would no longer collect payments from two major credit cards issued in Russia because of the companies’ decision.